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Prediction: Comics' Reboot Syndrome Will Hurt Hollywood

Comic book publishers need to stop relaunching major characters, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

The latest to indulge in "reboot syndrome," as Tim calls it? Marvel, which is relaunching Wolverine, the tough-as-nails mutant Hugh Jackman has given life to in six X-Men films. Writer Paul Cornell and artist Ryan Stegman will emphasize the "not very nice" elements of the character in the book, which is due in stores in February.

Tim says the relaunch is one of the many gimmicks plaguing the comic book industry in the wake of Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) successful reboot of the entire DC Comics Universe in 2011. Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) , meanwhile, is enjoying unprecedented box office success for its Marvel films. Thor: The Dark World has already earned more than $500 million worldwide, Box Office Mojo reports, besting its predecessor and laying the foundations for a successful franchise.

Reboots and gimmicks could make it harder for Hollywood to surface the next great franchise, if only because the publishers aren't giving creators the time and space to develop characters before rebooting them. That's a problem investors should take note of, Tim says.

Do you agree? Or are you enjoying Marvel and DC's various reboots? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take and then leave a comment to let us know what you think.

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Comments from our Foolish Readers

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The sad part is that the wolverine reboot started with the comic in which he had the adamantium ripped from him by magneto. It pretty much messed up the whole character and pretty much said Wolverine can't be wolverine without some kind of claws. The fact that he always had them was lazy storytelling, screwing up a perfectly good origin and for me it was the beginning of marvel's fall.

And just how many reboots have there actually been? Not that many. Plus, you have to consider that each time a new movie franchise is started, it's basically a reboot of the characters anyway since the content has to be introduced and contained within the movies themselves in order to have a decent, complete narrative. I just don't see this as a problem.

In comic book movies alone in just the last ten years we've had reboots of:

- The Punisher

- Catwoman (...)

- Batman

- Hulk (5 years after the last one)

- The Punisher (AGAIN!)

- Spider-Man (5 years after the last one)

- Judge Dredd

- Superman

And very soon there will also the comic book movie reboots of:

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

- Fantastic Four

- And maybe a TV reboot of The Punisher for a third time!!!

- And when Time Warner/DC gets around to making a Justice League movie, they'll probably reboot Green Lantern also.

Granted, some of those reboots were much needed and appreciated. After Bat Nipples: The Movie (Batman & Robin) killed the franchise, they really needed to start Batman over. And they can't ever seem to get The Punisher right, so might as well start over each time.

But that Spider-Man reboot with another origin story? It was only 5 years since since Spider-Man 3. We don't need to be told about Uncle Ben dying yet again. Especially since Spider-Man 3 was partly about the retelling of Uncle Ben's death! Man, oh man. I know this Amazing Spider-Man is different from the Spider-Man Trilogy's Spider-Man, but everybody knows the origin story. Even non-comic book fans know about Spider-Man's origins. It has been told and retold countless times. They story has become part of our collective culture at this point. Great power. Great responsibility. Whatever.

Hollywood loves their remakes/reboots/reimaginings. There is no denying that.

DC reboots it's whole universe every ten years or so but you don't hear comic fans complain about that. I would love that Marvel rebooted the last twenty years and blamed it all on Quesada. At least Stan Lee can say he lost his mind but what is Quesada's explanation?

Every single DC or Marvel movie has been a letdown with the exception of Blade, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises. The rest of it is trash. The Avengers? Thor using Mjolnir to attack the Chitauri coming through the portal should have basically repelled the invasion and ended the battle right there. The producers and writers adapting the characters for a Hollywood blockbuster have done nothing but cheated people who read those comics and were expecting something decent, not trash that's like watching paint dry.

The comic book world has existed on reboots since Julie Schwartz became editor of DC in the 50's.

The movie world is no different. As the studios and production companies seek wider and wider target markets, we will continue to see reboots. The main reason is that most of the writers have no idea how to handle comic characters. So they rely on being able to tell the origin story over and over.

Marvel, under Weadon's guidance, is managing to keep the ball rolling. However, IM3 is beginning to show the cracks. While it made a rather large amount of money, the writing breaking down.

Now I would not claim that "Days of Future, Past" is a total reboot. Drawing of the Chris Clairmont story of the same name, Singer is trying to knit the two X-Men storylines together. And, from what I have see so far, he stands a good chance of doing so.

The main question is whether Fox can build on something like that with Fantastic Four. Now there is a reboot that is going be a big question mark.

I think you're right Tim. Not only does it create brand fatigue but brand confusion. For example Transformers has been rebooted several times in the past 30 years. I tend to wonder if young children who sees the reruns of all versions of Transformers on channels like Hub doesn't get all the different story lines blended together in their heads. Of course, Hasbro puts out different Transformers lines to cater to the split fan base. Moreover, fans such as myself like to see consistency and continuity in their story lines like you see in the Gene Roddenberry's-Rick Berman-Michael Piller-Star Trek Time Line.

Sending report...

Tim Beyers first began writing for the Fool in 2003. Today, he's an analyst for Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova. At Fool.com, he covers disruptive ideas in technology and entertainment, though you'll most often find him writing and talking about the business of comics. Find him online at timbeyers.me or send email to tbeyers@fool.com. For more insights, follow Tim on Google+ and Twitter.